The Roof Cleaning Institute Of America Training & Certification Forum
"Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"

TROPO wrote:

---

  help out the new guy, i plan on starting with the roof cleaning this spring i love all the info i've read so far, a question i have is how do you protect the other areas of the house ( siding , decks etc) from the cleaning agent.

---

Welcome to RCIA...
To answer your question....Water ,water, and more water. When performing a Non pressure Roof Cleaning and using the Roof Cleaning chemical you should always have a ground person watering below. Rinse and keep the exterior walls, plants , shrubs etc... wet during the whole process and your ground man should be the one leading you. He is the boss. If he is still dealing with runnoff and you go and start another section without him there you are asking for trouble. If there are gutters involved you should always bag them to catch any runnoff that could burn or destroy grass etc... 

Eric wrote:

---

what would you say to use as far as a bag for the gutter,becasue i never would of thought of that and i dont want to burn anyones yard up!Thanks again to everone  in RCIA for all their help.so much info!!!

-- Edited by Eric at 22:51, 2009-02-10

-- Edited by Eric at 22:54, 2009-02-10

---

Hefty garbage bags work great for bagging the downspouts coming from the gutters of residential and commercial roof structures.

I would go to your nearest Sam's Club, Lowe's, etc. and pickup a Contractor pack of black or clear cheap but commercial grade plastic garbage bags (semi-heavy mil-thickness) and get yourself the bulk pack of a dozen rolls of duct tape (you'll need duct tape to hold the bags on. Always apply dry before starting to clean as the tape does  not stick when wet with water let alone roof cleaning solution).

Always, attempt, when possible, to use the PROVEN NO-RINSE, Non-Pressure Roof Cleaning and Algae Preventative techniques outlined on this forum and promoted by Roof Clean USA and many other Roof Cleaning Members here on this terrific board.

Here on the Roof Cleaning Institute Of America, or RCIA, for short, Non-Pressure Roof Cleaning methods are regognized as the perferred roof cleaning method.

Try for minimal runoff, for environmental reasons but, when it occurs and you are dealing with gutters, then bag them when possible or even divert them (the gutters) if you rinse to a safe zone with flexible pipe to avoid possible plant or landscape harm from concentrated salts exposure.

Always check with your local EPA in your state regarding rules and regs on runoff and comply with your local city ordinances whenever possible.

Food for thought: "Ingenuity is the Mother of Invention"


-- Edited by Roof Clean USA at 12:27, 2009-02-16

AGAIN THANKS FOR THE HELP , VIN

we use the bags and we use the black gutter drains as well

Yes, it can only help. Everyone knows how nasty the sewer systems are. You would be cleaning them slightly. The water treatment plants use the exact same thing to disinfect the water. Sodium hypochlorite is the #1 worldwide chemical for all algae/mold/baterial prevention.

When I type in on google,

Sodium hypochlorite greensboro

The first link shows the water treatment plant switching from using Chlorine gas to liquid sodium hypochlorite in 1999 because it is much safer to work with.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sodium+hypochlorite+greensboro&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=

-- Edited by Mike Sullivan at 10:46, 2009-02-16

That's surprising. When you collect the bags from the downspouts, the strength of the chemical has been broken down and used up from being exposed to the algae and the air. The bleach and the proteins in the algae attack each other, the bleach wins the war, and begins to oxidize and biodegrade rapidly. The chemical has little cleaning power after it flows through the downspouts used up.

Mainly what's left is salt (sodium) and detergent.

Maybe the one person who said no, thought you were pouring the bleach/detergent down the drain fresh.

People use bleach and detergent in their laundry all the time, so you would think the guy who said no is wrong.

-- Edited by Mike Sullivan at 13:13, 2009-02-18

So let me get this straight, you guys disconnect the downspout pipes from the top drain hole and tape a bag on the gutter outlet hole? I know on most gutters at least around here you can't move the downspout pipe without either bending it or needing to remove the whole top section which you would also remove the bracket. Or are you taking the bottom section off which would seem more logical, but still needing to remove a bracket? then bag it and take the run off away. A run down on the proceedure would be great.

Thank you

Thank you Mike, what do you do with the waste?

So let me get this straight. Around here the gutters drain into the street. If I am bagging the gutters and then dumping the chem in the same place it would be going if I did not bag them, I am not understanding I guess. I mean its going to run to the same place right?